Jose Mourinho said he remained reliant on his “fundamental players” following Chelsea’s FA Cup third-round win against Watford.
The Blues boss made eight changes for the game at Stamford Bridge and watched his team struggle in a goalless first half before bringing Diego Costa and Willian off the bench.
Willian opened the scoring before goals from Loic Remy and Kurt Zouma sealed place in round four.
And Mourinho admitted: “I was worried at half-time because we were not strong enough in attack to score – and always there was a risk from the opponent.
“The first half was a bit sad. We had ups and downs and not very good or solid performances.
“Today we played against a good Championship team and it was not easy. I needed some guarantees – it was important for us to make changes and Diego and Willian were fundamental when they came on.
“I had to use some of my fundamental players and had to do the same against Derby in the Capital One Cup.
“We don’t want to throw away any competition and we always want try to go to the next round.
“To do that we have to do what we did today and make some changes, but keep some others in the side and on the bench.
“This time it was Cesc Fabregas and Eden Hazard who I didn’t include, but maybe next time they will play and I will have to take some others out.”
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This post was last modified on 05/01/2015